Even as a child Barbara was beaufiful. But as her beauty grew, so did the affliction which shadowed it. She was becoming more and more deaf. Yet, living in an almost silent world, Barbara was protected from the knowledge which might otherwise have destroyed her—the secret of her own origins.

          Her governess, Anna Brigmore, was haunted by this knowledge, and by the thought that it must one day be revealed to the girl she cherished as her own daughter.